On January 6, 2015, Campbell Newman’s snap election call caught many off guard, including members of his own party. The Liberal National Party candidate to challenge Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk in her seat of Inala was overseas. The LNP candidate to face Labor’s Jackie Trad in the seat of South Brisbane had not even been named. In a normally festive time of year, journalists scrambled into action and canceled personal plans. Did Newman’s call lead to one of the greatest defeats in Australian political history? Or, given the size of the swing to Labor, was it one of the greatest of political victories? I suspect, until the next vote and given the contemporary polarisation of Queensland’s electorate, the schooner residing […]